Turkey: The myth, the reality

First, a little history.

Turkey really was served at the legendary pilgrim and Native American get-together that became Thanksgiving.

By 1860, the fat Thanksgiving turkey had become a symbol of American fertility and abundance, according to a study at St. Olaf College. And by the mid-20th century, an aggressive marketing campaign by turkey producers had created a year-round market for the bird.

Today's turkey is carved at Thanksgiving, sliced for sandwiches, grilled for burgers, and frozen and shipped around the world.

The turkey industry shrank 20% last year, suffering hard from the recession

U.S. turkey was a $3.57 billion industry in 2009, based on gross farm revenue. That was a 20.3% decrease from the year before, according to eatturkey.com.

Rising commodity prices have devastated producers. Meanwhile the recession has cut down consumer spending. Turkey producers are responding by increasing or decreasing production, neither with much success for the bottom line, according to Watt Poultry.

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The rise of Big Turkey

The major trend in the U.S. turkey industry has been consolidation.

Big companies dominate the market, and innovation has led to fewer hatcheries and greater production, according to a USDA study, The modern process is typically spread over several farms -- laying facilities, incubators, brooder barn, and slaughterhouses.

One trend to emerge from all this? Fatter birds.

In 1986, the average bird weighed 20 pounds; by 2006 the figure had increased to 28.2 pounds. Which means our turkeys are just like us!

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Americans keep eating more turkey

U.S. per-capita turkey consumption has more than doubled since 1975 to 16.9 pounds a person this year, according to Watt Poultry.

But that still hasn't caught up with other meats.

For comparison, beef consumption is 61.9 pounds a person in 2009. Chicken is 79.6 pounds.

The Big Three of turkey

Three players dominate the turkey industry.

Butterball processed 1.33 billions pounds of turkey in 2009. The North Carolina-based brand has been bought and sold many times, most recently to a joint venture between Goldsboro Milling Co. and Smithfield Foods. Butterball secured iconic status with its 1981 creation of a Turkey Talk Hotline.

Jennie-O is the world's second-largest turkey processor, with 1.27 billion pounds in 2009. Named for the founder's daughter, the company was privately held by a Minnesota family for many years, until its 1986 sale to Hormel Foods. The company specializes in oven-ready turkeys.

Cargill Value Added Meat is the third-largest turkey processor, with 1.17 billion pounds in 2009. The Minnesota-based company markets products under the names Honeysuckle White, Riverside, Shady Brook Farms, Marval, Willow Brook, and Schweigert. The parent company, Cargill, is listed by Forbes as the largest private company in America.

(Profiles based on information from trade magazine Watt Poultry and respective company sites)